Now, on the first anniversary of the Northumbria Police project, officers are keen to use breakthroughs in genetic fingerprinting to solve undetected crimes including murder, attempted murder, aggravated burglary, indecent assault and robberies along with sexually motivated offences.

Det Insp Garry Dixon, who is now heading Operation Phoenix said: "We set up the pilot project to prioritise undetected rapes and attempted rapes going back over a period between 1985 to 1999.

"Its success has led to us expanding our remit to cover other serious crimes."

The multi-agency partnership, working with the Forensic Science Service and the Crown Prosecution Service, has enabled the Phoenix team to bring closure to more victims.

It has also sent a message out to offenders who thought they had escaped detection for rapes and attempted rapes from more than a decade ago.

Altogether, Phoenix has led the re-investigation of 76 cases, of which 55 per cent have been successful. One of the recent convictions was that of Mark Wilkinson, who was jailed six years after raping a woman in a Sunderland alley.

He had been arrested for a minor public order offence but, crucially, police took a DNA sample to compare with samples from the unsolved sex crimes and came up with a match.

There are 130 cases still under review. In addition, four people have been charged and are waiting to appear in court.

Det Chief Supt Chris Machell, head of Northumbria CID, said the force would look at other serious crimes where the advancement in forensic profiling has given officers more evidence to re-evaluate cases.

Det Insp Dixon said the Phoenix team, working from bases at Morpeth and Ponteland, always take victims' views into consideration.

"If a genetic profile is found, further interviews take place with the victims to discuss their feelings. They are offered advice, guidance and counselling," he added.

Police have also looked at cases of suspected serial rapists during the inquiry.

Material and samples from the scenes of more than 100 rapes in the force area are being analysed, with DNA profiles matched against offenders' on a national database.

Det Insp Dixon said: "The successful work of Operation Phoenix has been examined by the Inspectorate of Constabulary and copied by other forces who have looked at Phoenix as a best-practice model for the investigation of unsolved sex crimes."

Page 2: Rapist trapped by sample....

Rapist trapped by sample

Operation Phoenix trapped rapist Mark Wilkinson six years after he attacked a woman in an alley.

Wilkinson, 25, started a five-year jail term in January after a sample proved he was the rapist who terrified a 19-year-old student in Sunderland.

He had been arrested for a minor public order offence. But the DNA sample police took matched one from the crime scene.

Wilkinson, a shopworker, of Roker Baths Road, Roker, Sunderland, was found guilty of the attack on the teenager in December 1995.

He was tracked down after he was arrested for urinating in a South Shields street. Two months later Operation Phoenix detectives linked him to the rape.

Page 3: Traces may give vital clue....

Traces may give vital clue

Police may revisit the Old Polly murder under Operation Phoenix.

The 1973 killing of Mary Ann Mckay, 80, known locally as Old Polly, is one police want to look at in view of developments in forensic techniques.

Mrs Mckay was battered to death on June 18, shortly after 4pm, near her home in St James's Terrace, Newcastle.

Her body was found in a cobbled back lane behind the east stand of St James's Park.

She had been stabbed in the face in and had also received blows to the head.

In spite of a massive police hunt, the crime remained unsolved.

The victim was described as a quiet, pleasant woman, and kind-hearted to everyone.